#Ukraine's so-called suspension of its operation of the vital 1997 treaty banning antipersonnel landmines puts civilians at risk, undermines fundamental humanitarian & legal norms, and is contrary to public international law - @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

Five European countries plan to revive the use of landmines, banned by treaty since 1999, hoping to fortify their borders with Russia.

"“Whoever they spot, they kill” - @972mag.com details how Israeli forces have learned from the Ukraine war & are adapting thousands of Chinese-made quadcopter drones & using them to drop grenades & other explosive weapons on civilians in Gaza www.972mag.com/drones-grena...

🇫🇮 Finland, 🇵🇱 Poland + 🇱🇹 Lithuania look set first to become the non-western countries to manufacture antipersonnel landmines in 27+ years www.reuters.com/business/aer... They are deliberately bringing back indiscriminate weapons that predominately harm civilians - @hrw.org hrw.org/news/2025/07...

"The Cold War horror" making a comeback.... @nytimes.com explores the human suffering caused by antipersonnel landmines & negative consequences of Ukraine & 5 EU countries withdrawing from the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/world/europe/land-mines-treaty-russia-ukraine.html

⚠️ The means & methods of warfare are not unlimited... 🇫🇮 Finland can maintain its independence & territorial integrity without having to resort to producing & using 💥inherently indiscriminate weapons such as antipersonnel landmines @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...

Ukraine looks to withdraw from a major international treaty on anti-personnel landmines to bolster its defense on the battlefield, where its troops are trying to hold off Russia's intensifying offensive.

🇺🇦 Ukraine has begun to withdraw from the Mine Ban Treaty. Because Ukraine is in the midst of a war, this is effectively a symbolic move to gain political cover while disregarding the core prohibitions on developing, producing, and using antipersonnel mines - @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

Welcoming 🇹🇴 Tonga on board the 1997 treaty banning antipersonnel landmines #166 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This a time when dedication to humanitarian principles of being tested. If more states start to backslide [and withdraw], what will the history books write about the Mine Ban Convention? - HRH Prince Mired

“Mines don’t disappear with the end of hostilities.” Since December, 414 people were killed & 592 injured by landmines & explosive remnants of war in #Syria. 30% of the victims were children. - Raed Al-Saleh, Minister for Environment, Emergencies, Disaster Management #MineBanIM

Great piece by @marywareham.bsky.social and Laura Lodenius on how European withdrawals from Ottawa Convention are "pushing the world to the precipice of a potentially slippery slope, where key legal and humanitarian norms might no longer be observed." 👇‼️

Offener Brief: 📝 Gemeinsam mit @hrwdeutschland.bsky.social , @minefreeworld.bsky.social , @medico.de & @savechildrende.bsky.social fordern wir: Deutschland muss sich klar gegen den Einsatz von #AntipersonenMinen positionieren! Zum offenen Brief 👇 www.handicap-international.de/sn_uploads/d...

Side event on civilian harm from antipersonnel landmines, starting now: us02web.zoom.us/j/8363598371...

101 Nobel laureates urge 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇱🇻 Latvia & 🇱🇹 Lithuania to stay in the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines & not withdraw from it: icblcmc.org/api/assets/I...

Join us at 13:00 CEST for a side event on Civilian Harm from Antipersonnel Landmines, with @hrw.org and @hi-advocacy.bsky.social In Room 4 at #MineBanIM Also live streamed at: us02web.zoom.us/j/8363598371... @minefreeworld.bsky.social @aymansorour.bsky.social @marywareham.bsky.social

This week, Finland may vote to withdraw from the international treaty banning landmines, & Poland may soon follow. @marywareham.bsky.social & Laura Lodenius write that this puts civilians at risk, and these states should reconsider. europeanleadershipnetwork.org/commentary/l...

We’ve launched a new action with @avaaz.org targeting Canada and its new PM, @mark-carney.bsky.social. Canada once led the world in banning landmines. Now we need them to lead again. Click the link below, and send an message urging Canada to protect the Mine Ban Treaty! 👉 Act now!

It was an honour to chat with the Honourable Dr. Lloyd Axworthy at an event discussing Canada’s leadership in banning landmines. Listening to Dr. Axworthy, I was struck by how far Canada has strayed from a morally defensible and coherent foreign policy that prioritizes people over profit.

😱 📚 "A growing slew of AI-generated books [are] scamming would-be readers. They are released around the same time as a highly anticipated book and try to profit off the hype by getting people to download them accidentally" @thespinoff.bsky.social: thespinoff.co.nz/politics/09-...

"Autonomous weapons systems raise moral, legal, and ethical concerns, but in Israel, debate over limits is nearly absent" - Aviv Bar Zohar: www.jpost.com/consumerism/...

A recent Human Rights Watch report documents how Russia is dropping landmines from drones in Ukraine, writes HRW’s Mary Wareham, part of a practice of landmine use causing other countries to move away from hard-won treaty protections. www.justsecurity.org/114293/russi...

☎️ “Call your allies when they violate the rules of war and demand that they stop. The moment to pick up the phone is now” @icrc.org president told Security Council today www.icrc.org/en/statement...

Tune in for today's virtual talk on @minefreeworld.bsky.social at 11:00am ET...

Broad interest in the first #UNGA meeting on autonomous weapons systems & substantive engagement shows why states should commit to open negotiations on a new international treaty to deal with the dangers - @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/05...

Congratulations to #Tonga on joining the life-saving #MineBanTreaty! This is the leadership needed today to achieve a mine free world! talanoaotonga.to/tonga-joins-... @minefreeworld.bsky.social @minemonitor.bsky.social

Global momentum is building for an international treaty on autonomous weapons systems. 🌎🤝 Look back at our advocacy this week at United Nations HQ 👇 @stopkillerrobots.bsky.social

Why are governments talking about killer robots? 🔊 ⤵️ Governments should seize the opportunity to adopt a new international treaty to address killer robots' threats to human rights. #StopKillerRobots

"#AutonomousWeapons systems would in addition create an accountability gap that will not only mean no one will be held responsible for a system’s unlawful action but will also eliminate an important tool for preventing harm." – @marywareham.bsky.social of @hrw.org on #Humanitarian concerns

What’s it like to work for a machine? New @hrw report details how gig workers for 7 online platforms are assigned orders, supervised, paid & fired by algorithms - @hrw.org: www.hrw.org/news/2025/05...

Tune in to UN Web TV on Monday at 1:15pm ET for a briefing on the human rights threats posed by autonomous weapons systems & digital decision-making tools: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1f... @hrw.org @stopkillerrobots.bsky.social @amnesty.org @icrc.org

Rest in Peace Chris Garrett & all those who have died working to clear landmines & explosive remnants of war from Ukraine kyivindependent.com/two-voluntee... His story: www.rferl.org/a/ukriane-br... 📸 Liam Kennedy

This Thursday, 🇱🇹 #Lithuania's parliament is due to vote on whether to withdraw from the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines. As @minemonitor.bsky.social reports, Lithuania has never produced antipersonnel mines & destroyed its stocks a decade ago www.the-monitor.org/country-prof...

“There are mines everywhere - on trees, on the ground, inside the houses, and all around them...It drives you crazy” - mother of an 18 yr old injured by an antipersonnel landmine after returning home in #Syria - @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/card/2025/04... @hrw.org recs www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

"It hurts your people” - Bosnian landmine survivor Zoran Ješić explains why so many oppose the moves by Finland, Poland, and Baltic states to withdraw from the treaty banning landmines: www.theguardian.com/science/2025... “Antipersonnel landmines are so abhorrent they must never be used again.”

‘It makes me want to scream’: Nobel peace prize winner horrified by planned exits from landmine treaty

New @hrw.org report looks at how autonomous weapons systems pose grave risks to fundamental human rights during war & peacetime: www.hrw.org/news/2025/04... Governments should negotiate a new international treaty to address the dangers.

Last November, Pope Francis encouraged states to accede to & fully implement the @MineBanTreaty, warning that "any delay or setback will inevitably increase the human cost" of antipersonnel landmines www.osservatoreromano.va/en/news/2024...

First UN Human Rights Council resolution on antipersonnel landmines, supported by countries from around the world, sends a clear message that these weapons violate fundamental human rights - @hrw.org: www.hrw.org/news/2025/04... All countries to accede to & not leave the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

"Dropping flaming barrels of fire from the air" Horror in South Sudan as improvised incendiary weapons are used on civilian areas, killing & wounding dozens, incl. children, & burning civilian homes, infrastructure - new report from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/04... #CCWUN

After years of landmine use, cluster munition attacks & bombardment an urgent, nationwide clearance effort is now needed in #Syria - @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/04... If not more civilians returning home will be injured & killed by landmines & explosive remnants of war. @minefreeworld.bsky.social

#NewZealand at #CCM2025: Regrets #Lithuania’s withdrawal, warning it sets a concerning precedent that risks the Convention and IHL. Also deeply concerned that several states are considering leaving the Mine Ban Treaty. #BanClusterBombs #MineFreeWorld

CMC Statement on Stockpile Destruction and Retention read by Mark Hiznay from @hrw.org at the 2025 Intersessional Meeting of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Read more: bit.ly/3XRmGX8 #BanClusterBombs #2025CCM

👉 "There’s nothing sophisticated about the #antipersonnelmines used in today’s #armedconflicts. They are indiscriminate weapons that predominately harm civilians, violate #humanrights, and have long-term societal impact." @marywareham.bsky.social @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

Antipersonnel mines harm civilians indiscriminately & play limited role in conflicts. #Finland #Poland #Estonia #Latvia & #Lithuania 's statements to withdraw from treaty against antipersonnel mines undermine norms, put civilians in danger. www.hrw.org/news/2025/04... @andriuskubilius.ec.europa.eu

Devastating developments driven largely by two countries that have not banned antipersonnel landmines – the United States & Russia – are threatening international norms & long-standing working to eradicate these weapons, which predominately harm civilians - @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

"The Trump administration's deep cuts to foreign aid are now disrupting mine clearance operations," said @hrw.org's @marywareham.bsky.social ahead of International Day of Mine Action. By @brettwilkins.bsky.social

#GoodNews for the laws of war as the Marshall Islands follows thru on its pledge to ratify the 1997 treaty banning antipersonnel landmines. 165 states are now on board the Mine Ban Treaty. @minefreeworld.bsky.social @hrw.org

"We just hope that states will use this rolling text as a basis to negotiate a treaty and that they will respect the deadline that they have set up themselves." – @nicolevanrooijen.bsky.social Our thoughts on this week's #CCWUN meetings on #AutonomousWeapons 👇 /1

"See what your government is saying and see if you agree with what their view is on how we maintain human control over the use of force going forward into the future" – @marywareham.bsky.social @hrw.org 📹 Watch the final day of #CCWUN meetings here: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k11...